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Thursday November 16th, 2000
Art of Guitar II rocks New York gallery
On Thursday, November 9, the Gibson Custom, Art & Historic Division's Art of Guitar II debuted at New York City's Animazing Gallery. The show features more than 25 Gibson guitars, each hand-painted by a renowned contemporary artist including LeRoy Neiman, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, Ralph Bakshi (Lord of the Rings), celebrated poster artist Derek Hess, Carol Paulson, Alison Lefcort, and official Grammy Awards artist Rick Garcia--all one-of-a-kind guitars as artist's canvas by an eclectic mix of important visual and music artists.
"The guitar has grown to be much more than just something to make music with, it has become a lifestyle symbol that is recognized universally around the world. With Gibsons rich history and classic designs, we could hardly think of a better medium to offer as a springboard for artistic inspiration." said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Musical Instruments and host of the opening night event.
Guitars in the collection range from Gibsons classic Les Paul to the carved top ES-5 Switchmaster and the solid-body SG and ranged from $4,500 to $100,000 dollars.
Numerous celebrites of both the music and art worlds attended the opening. The guitars remain on display and for sale at Animazing's New York City SoHo showroom at 474 Broome Street between Greene and Wooster.
Following is an exclusive photo gallery from Art of Guitar II.
The Yahoo! kiosk allowed guests to bid
on the Matt Groening "Homer" Les Paul.
A large crowd of New York musicians and art patrons filled the gallery.
Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz shows the LeRoy Neiman "Les Paul Tribute" guitar to a TV crew.
James MacDonald describes the effort that went into creating "The Muse" Les Paul, being held by Henry.
Gibson president Dave Berryman, Pat Martino and Henry.
Allison Lefcourt (center) watches as Animazing Gallery owner
Heidi Leigh takes down her "Jerry Garcia J-200" for a prospective buyer to play.
A crowd gathers around the centerpiece of the exhibit - "Gibson's Tribute to the Twentieth Century" guitar.
Ralph Bakshi (right) poses with the buyer of the ES-446 that he had painted.
Conan O'Brian, Rick Garcia and the Custom Shop's Kevin Van Pamel hold Garcia's "John Lennon Tribute" Epiphone Casino.
Allison Lefcourt shows off her design work on the back of the "Elvis Presley J-200"
Artist Bill Sienkiewicz and Heidi Leigh pose for photos with Bill's "Wolverine" Les Paul
Jon Carin, guitarist for Pete Townshend, poses with his pick of the show, Gibson's "Austin Powers ES-335"
Jimmy Vivino, Conan O'Brien, Rick Gembar, General Manager of the Gibson Custom Shop and Henry talk about guitars.
Rick Garcia, Heidi Leigh and Henry hold one of Garcia's four guitars in the collection.
Several young musicians stand in awe of the detailed artwork on the "Twentieth Century Tribute" guitar.
Jimmy Vivino, Conan O'Brien, Rick Gembar and Nick Leone, owner of the Animazing Gallery
Up and coming rock band Oleander stopped in to see the guitars.
Jimmy Vivino, Conan O'Brien and Custom Shop master artisan Bruce Kunkel hold Gibson's "Les Paul Tribute" guitar.
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